Senator Obama made his announcement Saturday in Springfield, Illinois where he first announced his run for the presidency last year.

Fellow Democrats are touting Obama's choice of Biden as good for the Democratic ticket. Senator Hillary Clinton called Biden an "exceptionally strong, experienced leader and devoted public servant."

Reviews from abroad see Joe Biden as adding weight and depth to a potential Obama administration. Analysts in Europe think the crisis between Russia and Georgia helped propel Biden to the front of the vice-presidential list.

They're saying he owes his selection to Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and fears of a bellicose Russia. Biden's selection is drawing mixed reviews in Iraq. Some, especially Sunni Arabs, are wary of his call two years ago to divide the country into autonomous regions along sectarian and ethnic lines.

In Ghana, experts attending a U.N. climate change convention say with his choice of Biden, Obama is sending a strong signal of positive change in the battle against global warming.